Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
One of the struggles a sufferer of mental illness faces is struggling alone. No one can understand exactly what a victim is feeling unless he or she has experienced it themselves.
Now, Warsaw has a support group that allows those with a mental illness to talk while their families discuss what they are going through as well.
The Warsaw Area Alliance for the Mentally Ill has begun an independent Family and Patient Support Group that meets every Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, Warsaw. The group is free and open to the public.
"It gives people a place to go," said Todd Biller, the facilitator of the group. "It is a place you can go if you are a family member or if you are afflicted."
The support group offers consumers, or patients, a chance to talk with those who also have suffered or with those they might be able to help. It also allows family members a chance to learn what the mentally ill person is going through and how other families in the same situation have handled it in the past.
Biller, who describes his job as to "look over the whole thing," said the group offers general support and ways to gain information, ideas and treatment opportunities.
The support group does not provide treatment for patients, Biller said, but can give out the names of doctors for referral.
Biller said the group currently includes those suffering from schizophrenia and mental disorders such as depression and manic depression as well as "a lot of general types of mental illness," including those involving chemical imbalances.
"Right now (the group is a) 50/50 mix between consumers and family members," Biller said. "A lot of people are now coming with their families or bringing relatives along."
Biller said the group provides help if consumers are going through a crisis. "Hopefully we aren't all going through a crisis in the same week," Biller said. "Someone has a level head."
The group was not made to take the place of a doctor or caseworker, Biller said. "Some (consumers) may need in-patient care, but some just need someone to talk to."
The group began in October 1997. Biller said they average 13 people a week, but have had as many as 29. Four of the people who helped start the group have gone through the "Journey of Hope" national program, now called the "Family to Family" education course, through the Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
Biller says the course teaches family members to cope with mental illness.
"My wife was diagnosed as a manic depressive two years ago, and there was no place to turn here for help," Biller said. He said he went to Fort Wayne first, but realized that some kind of help was needed in this area.
He compared a mental illness to a physical illness, like diabetes. If a person is diagnosed with diabetes, he must learn to change his eating and living habits to survive. His family also must accept and learn the changes, such as learning what he can or cannot eat.
In a mental illness, doctors will treat a patient in a crisis and then "stick (the patient) right back where he started," Biller said. The sufferer is put back where it began, not learning how to change, and too often nothing gets better. No one in the family is trained to help the patient.
Biller said that many times medicine is required, but consumers also need other types of treatment.
At a support group meeting, members of the group introduce themselves and cover any necessary business. The group then breaks into smaller groups, including a group for patients, a group for family members and a group for spouses.
"We believe in information," Biller said. The group often watches videos and obtains books and brochures from sources such as pharmaceutical companies.
They also host guest speakers, like counselors and pharmaceutical representatives.
"We spend a lot of time laughing," Biller said. "You are dealing with people in your situation. You can say exactly how you are feeling, and the person next to you has been feeling and thinking the same way."
Biller said the support group already has been able to help people, and plans to continue. He said they would like to work with the Mental Health Association so patients can learn more about the differences between mental health and mental illness.
The group's main purpose is education, providing information to the public and communication among those who have suffered.
"You don't have to have a mental illness to come to the group," Biller said. Anyone who wants to learn more about mental illness for themselves or for someone else is welcome to attend.
The group is confidential and Biller said that those who attend are not forced to talk. They can begin by listening to others and talking when they are more comfortable.
If a person suffers from a true mental illness, Biller said, "There is hope and a way to get through it." He said there is no charted path to get through mental illness, but if a sufferer can connect with people who have been through it, "they may avoid some icebergs."
For more information about the support group, call Biller at 858-2757.
